- Date
- October 3, 1982, 16:45 local (23:45 UTC)
- Place
- El Mirage, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N87DSCougar A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 3, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 70563
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Loss of engine power(partial) - mech failure/malf
Throttle/power lever - binding(mechanical)Cause
Mixture control - binding(mechanical)Cause
Mixture control - otherCause
Fluid,fuel - starvationCause
Forced landing
Nose over
Terrain condition - softFactor
Terrain condition - loose gravel/sandyFactor
Analysis
After takeoff, the engine lost power. The pilot made a forced landing on the desert. The aircraft encountered sand and nosed over. The homebuilt aircraft had a common bracket for throttle and mixture. Advancing the throttle would leaned the mixture.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N87DS
- Reported as
- Cougar A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1
- Airframe hours
- 1,107
- Engine
- Franklin SPORT 4, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Roland D. Scherer
- Registered owner
- Roland D. Scherer
- Departed
- L69 · El Mirage, CA
- Destination
- CPM · Compton, CA
- Airport
- L69 · El Mirage, runway 25, 3,700 × 80 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 63
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 208 total · 112 in this make and model · 207 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Temperature
- 185 °F